To: Enforcement Officers, Certified Wetland Specialists and Other Interested Parties:
On August 16, 2018, the federal Clean Water Rule  (CWR, 2015) went back into effect in Illinois following an injunction by the U.S. District Court of South Carolina. What does this mean for the Jurisdictional Determination (JD) process in Lake County? Until further notice, the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission (SMC) will perform preliminary wetland jurisdictional determinations (PJDs) following the new definition of waters of the United States (WOUS) listed in the CWR.  

SMC’s wetland staff will perform PJD field reviews in the company of a representative from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Chicago District (USACE).  Jurisdiction of WOUS will be determined following the definition criteria listed in CFR Part 328.3 of the CWR, along with any supplemental JD guidance provided by the USACE.  Areas not meeting the WOUS definition will be considered Isolated Waters of Lake County (IWLC), unless a community’s enforcement officer (EO) determines that such areas meet the exclusion criteria listed under the definition of IWLC in Appendix A of the Lake County Watershed Development Ordinance (WDO). 

See SMC’s fillable form (PDF) for requesting a PJD and/or boundary verification of IWLC. If you have any questions regarding SMC’s PJD services, please contact our wetland specialists: Glenn Westman 847-377-7718, or Juli Crane 847-377-7708.